Insulator.



GU01 new '0 R. S. HOPKINS.

INSULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- I4, 1916 Patented Dec. 5, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

BOY S. HOBKJNS, OF FAIRMONYI, WEST VIRGINIA.

INSULATOR.

, Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed January 14,1916. Serial navaoee.

poses and aseasily restored after 'the test has been made. v

My device comprises an insulatorhaving a mercury well in its top, of.the kind described in my prior application Serial Number 44,088, filedAugust 6, 1915, into which well are dipped the bent ends of the linewires.

My present invention has for its ob ect to providea means whereby theends of these line wires are positively held in the mercury cup while atthe same time this holding device permits the ready removal of the wiresfrom the 'well.

It. has for its further object to provide a holding-device which shallbe permanently connected to one of the wires so that while readilyadjusted intoeither the holding or disconnecting position, it is stillnot detachable from the wire. This feature is of importance becausethetesting is done by a lineman upon these insulators usually located onthe tops of poles and under varying conditions of Wind and weather; andmy device is particularly designed to have no detachable parts which canbe dropped or lost. This holding device further forms a protective coverfor the mercury well.

The invention will be readily understood fromtheacco'mpanying drawing,in which+ Figure 1 is an elevation of the insulator provided with myconnecting and holding device; Fig. 2 is a top plan view and Fig.

3 is a bottom plan view of the holding device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 isa cross-section showing the mercury cup in the top of the insulator; andFig. 5 is a horizontal section through. Fig. 4; Fig. 6' shows a modifiedform of mercury cup; Fig. 7 is a section through a modifiedform ofholding device;

and Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the holding device shown in Fig. 7;Fig. 9 is an elevation of a. modified form of insulator, provided with aholding device attached directly thereto; Fig. 10 is a sectional view ofI a modification.

Patented Dec. 5,1916.

Referringto the drawings, A is an insulator, preferably of glass orporcelain and provided with the usual two external grooves in which arelocated the lin wires D and E. The end portions of these line wires arecurved upwardly and have at their ends ,right angular bends, these bentends extending into a mercury cup C, at the top of the insulator. I Asshown in Fig. 4, this cup C has at its'top an annular flange F, theflange being spaced away from the body of the insulator sufliciently topermit the passage thereunder of the flanges G, G of the holding deviceH; As shownin Figs. 1, 2 and 3, this holding device is made of'a singlepiece of sheet metal having the inwardly-turned flanges G, G formed nearits central portion and having at one end an extension, I preferablycurved to act as a thumb-piece; and having at its other end a bentextension K having two perforations therein through which the wire Epasses.

The mercury cup C may be secured in the cavity in the insulator, asshown in Figs..4 and 5, by corrugating longitudinally. its

, lower tubular portion, and forcing the corrugated tubular portion intothe opening in the insulator.

- The operation of the device, as thus far described, is as follows :-Inorder to break theline for testing purposes, the lineman presses downupon the thumb-piece I, or

upon the body of the holding device ,H, and

slides it to the left, thereby leaving the ends of the wires free to beremoved from the 'mercury cup, while at the same time the holding deviceis itself held on the wire E with no possibility of detachment. In orderto restore the line connection, the bent ends of the linewires areinserted into the mercury cup andthe \holding device H is slid to theright, its inturned flanges G,'G extending under the edges of theannular flange F, thereby positively securing the two ends of thewires'in their proper-position in the mercury cup.

In Fig. 6 is shown another method of connecting the mercury cup totheinsulator.

In this case the tubular portion of the cup tween the tubular portionand the wall of the cavity in the insulator. i

In Figs. 7 and 8 isshown a modified form" of holding device H, providedwith inturned flanges G, G, a thumb-piece I at one end of the holdingdevice, and an eXtension K, at the other end, formed by bending thesheet metal into a closed tube to loosely embrace the wire E. lheoperation of this form of device is the same as that of the similardevice already described.

, In Fig. 9, I have shown a modified form in which the insulator A isprovided at its top with an annular flange F, beneath which is a grooveportion in which the correspondingly curved flanges G, G", of a holdingdevice H" may be seated. 'Ihis holding device may be of either of theforms above described,-and is intended to operate in a similar manner. I

In Fig. 10 I have shown still another form of holding device H which is,at its central'portion, provided with an upwardly projecting hollow bossM, in which is mounted a screw N having at its bottom a wedge-.

devices above described.

- moaned device H is moved sidewise to disengage the flanges as in theother forms of holding In each of the forms above described it will'benoted that the line connection can be readily broken and restored by asimple movement of the-holding device; that the holding device ispermanently attached to one of the line wires; that the holding devicepositively holds the ends of the line wire in the mercury cup so that agood conncction is certainly made; and that the mercury cup iscompletely covered against the entrance of rain or dust.

I claim 1. The combination with an insulator having a cavity in its topof line wires having bent ends adapted to extend into said cavity, 1'

and a holding device adjustable on but permanently connected to one ofthe line wires, the holding device and the insulator being provided withcooperating means for hold-.

ing' the ends of the line wires in the cavity."

the wires the screw N is moved up into the" 2. The combination with aninsulator having a cavity in its top of a cup secured in said cavity andhaving a flange at its top spaced from the top of the insulator, and aholding device comprising a body portion

